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Survivor recounts 2005 Haditha massacre as new evidence emerges
Safa Younes, the sole survivor of a 2005 US marine attack in Haditha, Iraq, has spoken out as a BBC investigation uncovers fresh evidence implicating two marines in the killing of her family-neither of whom faced trial. The incident, part of the broader Haditha massacre that left 24 Iraqi civilians dead, remains one of the most controversial cases of alleged US war crimes during the Iraq War.
The attack on Safa's home
On 19 November 2005, US marines stormed the Younes family home in Haditha, a town in western Iraq's Al Anbar Province. Safa, then 13, hid with her five siblings, mother, and aunt in a back bedroom as marines opened fire, killing everyone except her. Her father was shot dead when he answered the front door.
Bullet holes still mark the door two decades later. Inside, the bed where her family was killed remains covered by a colorful spread-a haunting reminder of the violence that unfolded. Safa survived by playing dead among the bodies of her siblings, the youngest just three years old.
"We hadn't been accused of anything. We didn't even have any weapons in the house," Safa told the BBC, recalling the day her family was wiped out.
Conflicting accounts and dropped charges
The Haditha killings became the longest US war crimes investigation of the Iraq War, yet no marine was ever convicted. Four were initially charged with murder, but prosecutors dropped cases against three, granting them immunity. Only Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the squad leader, faced trial in 2012-ultimately pleading guilty to a single count of negligent dereliction of duty, unrelated to direct involvement in the killings.
The marines claimed they were responding to gunfire after a roadside bomb killed one of their squad and injured two others. But forensic evidence and testimony collected by the BBC suggest a far darker reality.
Key testimonies revisited
Newly uncovered audio from Wuterich's trial reveals inconsistencies in the accounts of two marines: Lance Corporal Humberto Mendoza and Lance Corporal Stephen Tatum.
- Mendoza, who admitted to killing Safa's unarmed father, initially claimed he did not enter the bedroom where the family was hiding. Yet in a later recording, he stated he walked 8ft (2.4m) into the room-a detail forensic expert Michael Maloney called a "confession of sorts."
- Tatum, who was never charged, gave three conflicting statements. In one, he admitted seeing children kneeling before shooting them, saying, "Knowing it was a kid, I still shot him." His lawyers later argued these statements were obtained under duress.
Forensic findings challenge official narrative
Maloney, who investigated the crime scene in 2006, concluded that two marines entered the bedroom and fired on the women and children. Crime scene photos and Mendoza's revised account placed him at the foot of the bed-where Maloney believed the first shooter stood.
"This is just amazing to me... Mendoza confessed to everything except pulling the trigger," Maloney told the BBC after reviewing the audio.
Michael Maloney, forensic expert
Safa's 2006 video deposition-never shown in court-described a marine throwing a grenade (which failed to explode) into the bedroom before opening fire. Mendoza is the only marine who admitted to opening that door.
Legal failures and immunity deals
Critics argue the US military's investigation was deeply flawed. Wuterich's defence lawyer, Neal Puckett, called the prosecution "botched," citing immunity deals that undermined the case. Haytham Faraj, Wuterich's military lawyer, accused prosecutors of "paying" witnesses with immunity to lie.
"The trial of Haditha was never meant to give voice to the victims... Survivors' impressions of a show trial with no real outcome were right."
Haytham Faraj, former marine and defence lawyer
The US Marine Corps told the BBC it remains committed to "fair and open proceedings" under military law but would not reopen the case without "new, unexamined, and admissible evidence."
Safa's fight for justice
Now 33 and a mother of three, Safa still lives in Haditha. She described the pain of seeing Mendoza's video testimony, saying he "should have been imprisoned from the moment the incident happened."
"It's as if it happened last year. I still think about it... I want those who did this to be held accountable. It's been almost 20 years without them being tried. That's the real crime."
Safa Younes, survivor
The BBC's findings raise pressing questions about accountability for wartime civilian deaths-and whether justice can ever be served for the families of Haditha.
